We had a fast and bumpy sail from Nassau to Bimini. The winds were in the low 20’s and we moved along at 8 kn much of the time. The trip was 130 nm and it took just 20 hours. We left Palm Cay Marina at noon and pulled into Bimini Sands Marina at 8 am. There was another cruiser on the dock to help with our lines. When he and George made their introductions we learned that he was Bob from Her Diamond. We had heard a lot about Her Diamond through the Trekker’s Travels blog. Her Diamond has been buddy boating with Trekker for the past 6 months, all the way from upstate New York. What a small world! Her Diamond recently turned around to start heading back to the US while Trekker continued on in the Exumas. We crossed paths with Karen and Hugh on Trekker (their Hanse 415) at Big Majors Spot. We follow their blog and they follow ours so Bob and Sheila had heard all about us. They instantly recognized our boat and knew who we were when we pulled in 2 slips down.
After George finished tying up he cooked bacon and eggs with toast for breakfast. Then, after a brief nap, he said he had an intense pain in his abdomen, right around his belly button. We both thought it would pass but it didn’t. He also experienced nausea and vomiting and couldn’t keep anything down. He felt just awful, so bad that he didn’t think he could get off of the boat to take the ferry to north Bimini and visit the clinic. A few hours later he finally agreed to give it a try. I called the clinic to make sure they were open but they told me they were closing (2 hours early-it’s island time). Sheila and Bob invited us to join them and another couple for dinner at the marina restaurant. George encouraged me to go so I did and had a fun time. George did not feel any better the next day. I went to the infinity pool for a few hours while George slept. We had wanted to take the ferry to North Bimini and walk around but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving George for very long. In the afternoon I walked to the office and explained our situation and asked it they had any suggestions. Two lovely ladies contacted a doctor for me let me use their phone to talk to the doctor. The doctor recommended Dramamine for the nausea and 1/2 cup of Gatorade every 20 minutes. He should not eat solid foods and should drink only clear liquids. The doctor told me that even if we waited until the clinic reopened on Monday it wouldn’t have the equipment to do any tests.
I bought some Gatorade at the ship store and gave that and the Dramamine to George. We decided that if he felt significantly better we would leave Bimini as planned and sail to Ft. Pierce. If he felt moderately better we would leave early morning and buddy boat to Ft. Lauderdale with Sheila and Bob on Her Diamond. If he didn’t feel better at all we would either stay and wait it out or look into flights to Nassau or Ft. Lauderdale.
George did not feel any better this morning. He still had the abdominal pain and nausea and was up most of the night. We made the decision to fly to Ft. Lauderdale. Then, after considering the logistics of getting to the airport, getting on the plane and then getting to a hospital from the airport it seemed just as easy to take our own boat. So at 6:30, shortly after Her Diamond left, we pulled out of the slip. The agreement was that George would untie the lines and I would drive the boat until we docked in Ft. Lauderdale, where he would he tie the lines again. The rest of the day he would rest. Although we had wind, it was directly behind us so we couldn’t sail. The seas weren’t too bad but did make for a rolly ride. Her Diamond was ahead of us and checked in on us throughout the day. They are so kind and thoughtful.
We are now in the ER of Broward Health Medical Center. George is on a bed in the hallway (we are not complaining) going through some tests and is on an IV for fluids, pain and nausea medication. It will probably be a few hours before the results come back.
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